The ZiggyCam will be live for the month long trip. With the exception of when anchored after dark (i.e. saving battery usage rather than broadcast a cam feed of the dark) or during a rare lack of cellphone signal the cam will be live 24/7 along with the chat room even miles offshore. The soft goal this year is to hit Mackinac Island and round Drummond Island at the top of Lake Huron before heading back home to Detroit.
The weather was going to be a problem this day. The Coast Guard was projecting a Small Craft Warning starting at 2pm.
The wind would be gusty and the waves building out of the south where we were headed. A front was blowing in bringing with it cooler temps and lots of rain.
We were the only boat willing to brave the impending weather and were all alone as we motored out of the harbor aiming south for the 50 mile trip.
I always plot a coarse outbound of an exposed
wreck of a freighter on the shoals off of Thunder Bay.
With the waves building all afternoon I choose to pick through the reefs and shoals on an inside route.
Using the shallows to our advantage I snuck us about 5 miles inside of the wreck's buoy and right out along side Thunder Bay Island's lighthouse.
The head wind had slowed us down enough that we were running out of day light.
I made the decision to fall back on plan B and head the ten miles into the bay and take shelter in Alpena.
The rain beat use to the dock and we were in rain gear before making landfall.
Once we were tied up we walked uptown cold and wet hoping for a place to eat. We stumbled on the Olde Owl Tavern and Grill and warmed up the the Prime Rib and a couple of cold Amber Bocks.